ATLANTA — Your next online purchase could show up at your house even sooner.
FedEx announced Friday it will launch Sunday deliveries starting next January in an effort to meet the growing demand of online shoppers.
This is the latest move in the race for faster online services from retailers and shippers competing for your money.
Most delivery companies only offer 7-day-a-week service during the holidays. But starting in January 2020, most of the country can expect at least some of those deliveries to come any day of the week.
"Because shoppers don't run on business days -- they run every day," said FedEx of the decision in a tweet.
The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates consumers spent more than $513 billion online in 2018 - a 14.2 percent increase from the previous year.
That's why, starting January 2020, FedEx will add year-round Sunday deliveries for most urban and suburban areas.
The company is also pulling back nearly 2 million daily deliveries called SmartPost packages that are currently handled by the United States Postal Service. The two had a deal where FedEx shipped items most of the way before handing them off to the post office to finish the delivery.
FedEx said handling the entire process with its own network will increase efficiency. That means less money for the already struggling USPS.
Sandy Springs-based UPS doesn't deliver on Sundays, except for urgent healthcare items, but it said it could expand if it chooses.
In 2018, FedEx bumped up some deliveries to 6-days a week. But as soon as it did, people started calling for week-round shipping.
The company said it expects shipments of small packages to double in the U.S. by 2026, causing a strain on delivery networks. It added this is all the result of the growth of online shopping.
A University of Washington professor said adding Sunday delivery will help FedEx level out the flow of packages because companies won't be able to add enough trucks during peak hours especially in congested cities.
FedEx isn't the only company working to meet online customer demand. Amazon announced one-day Prime shipping earlier in 2019, followed by Walmart which is announcing free next-day shipping on 220,000 items.
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